What's Apple Doing With Foursquare?

Suddenly, Apple's 'Mr. Fix-It' appears interested. Is this a prelude to an announcement?

Foursquare has been moving away from the personal check-in to being known as a service that tells you where your friends are, what they're doing, and giving you suggestions for where you can spend your money. All those things are very interesting for Apple -- especially remembering that Apple is going to be making a big push to get in your car as well in the coming years.

Apple already has a good partnership with Yelp ( YELP), but I don't see why buying Foursquare would threaten that.

Eddy Cue is the guy at Apple who will make the call on whether he wants to own this asset or not.

It is interesting that he's starting to use the service himself. Maybe he's just kicking the tires. But to try it out on a Wednesday at Apple and then the next day across the country in the same town as where Foursquare is based? I would guess discussions are already far along the tracks.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Eric Jackson is founder and Managing Member of Ironfire Capital and the general partner and investment manager of Ironfire Capital US Fund LP and Ironfire Capital International Fund, Ltd. In January 2007, Jackson started the world's first Internet-based campaign to increase shareholder value at Yahoo!, leading to a change in CEOs in 2007. He also spoke out in favor of Yahoo!'s accepting Microsoft's buyout offer in 2008. Global Proxy Watch named Jackson as one of its 10 "Stars" who positively influenced international corporate governance and shareowner value in 2007.

Prior to founding Ironfire Capital, Jackson was President and CEO of Jackson Leadership Systems, Inc., a leadership, strategy, and governance consulting firm. He completed his Ph.D. in the Management Department at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York, with a specialization in Strategic Management and Corporate Governance, and holds a B.A. from McGill University.

He was previously Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at VoiceGenie Technologies, a software firm now owned by Alcatel-Lucent. In 2004, Jackson founded the Young Patrons' Circle at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, which is now the second-largest social and philanthropic group of its kind in North America, raising $500,000 annually for the museum. You can follow Jackson on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ericjackson or @ericjackson.